Family of woman found dead at ex-boyfriend's home complained about lack of police probe
The family of Asahi Okazaki, whose body was found at her ex-boyfriend's home in Kawasaki, had lodged a complaint with a police headquarters not involved in the case about the lack of action by local police against alleged stalking by the man, it was learned Wednesday.
According to investigative sources, in mid-January, a member of the 20-year-old part-time worker's family told a police officer at the police headquarters — the family member's acquaintance — that the Kanagawa Prefectural Police had "made no moves" since Okazaki went missing in December last year, despite the family's "repeated requests" for launching an investigation into the 27-year-old former boyfriend, Hideyuki Shirai.
Receiving the officer's report, a division of the headquarters conveyed the complaint to the Kanagawa Prefectural Police and its Kawasaki Rinko police station, and sought explanations about their response to the case, the sources said. In reply, the local police said they were "doing what we have to do."
The headquarters later told the family about the action it had taken, the sources added.
Okazaki's body was discovered under the floor of Shirai's home in Kawasaki during a police raid linked to stalking laws on April 30. He was arrested for allegedly abandoning the body.
According to the family, Okazaki had frequently told her friends and relatives, as well as the police, about harassment and stalking by the former boyfriend.
The family filed a missing-person report with the prefectural police on Dec. 22, two days after she became unaccounted for.
Given the fact that the brutal crime happened despite her and her family's consultations with the prefectural police and the family's demand for a stalking probe, the police have set up a verification team to probe whether there were problems with their moves around the time Okazaki disappeared.
The police department said it cannot comment until the team concludes its work.
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